Faris Al-Sultan

Infobox Athlete
playername= Faris al-Sultan


caption= Faris al-Sultan, Hawaii 2005
country= Germany
alias= The Sultan of Sweat
datebirth= birth date and age|1978|1|21
placebirth= Munich, Germany
height=
weight=
club=
turnedpro=
retired=
pb= 8’14:00, 2005
olympics=
worlds=
highestranking= 2005 Mens Ironman World Champion
coaching=
updated=

Faris al-Sultan born January 21, 1978 in Munich, Germany to a German mother and an Iraqi father, is a professional triathlete and the winner of the 2005 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Faris is known for his strengths in all three triathlon disciplines. In the running segment, he has a consistent but uncommon form of a long stride and loose arms, described as "looping." In competition, he typically wears a Speedo and half-singlet. His interest in triathlon was inspired by Thomas Hellriegel, a German triathlete.

Al-Sultan started out as a collegiate swimmer before taking on triathlon. His first Ironman in 1997 was the notoriously difficult Lanzarote Ironman, which he completed in a time of 10:33. Al-Sultan won his first Ironman at the inaugural running of Ironman Arizona in 2005. He competed at the Ironman world championships in Hawaii in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004 before finally winning there in 2005. The favorite that year, fellow German Normann Stadler, withdrew due to flat tires. In al-Sultan's return to defend the title in 2006, he placed third. At the 2007 championships, Faris did not compete due to a case of gastroenteritis the morning of the race. He said choosing not to compete "was one of the hardest decisions of my life." [cite web|url=http://faris-al-sultan.de/newsarchiv/| title=Faris al-Sultan News Archive| publisher=faris-al-sultan.de|accessdate=2008-04-16|date=2008-04-16]

In addition to his athletic training, al-Sultan was a graduate student at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, working on a Master's degree in Arabic language, literature, and history. Al-Sultan dropped out of graduate school before completing his degree in order to focus on triathlons.

External links

* [http://www.faris-al-sultan.de/ Official Website]

Notes